


half my life is books, written pages

by CadetDru



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Archivist Sasha James, Beholding Avatar Powers (The Magnus Archives), Beholding Avatar Sasha James, Ceaseless Watcher - Freeform, Eventual Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Eventual Romance, Gen, M/M, Mentioned Gertrude Robinson, Past Sasha James/Tim Stoker, Teamwork, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:08:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27487057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CadetDru/pseuds/CadetDru
Summary: Gertrude was gone and no one knew why.  There was a new head archivist and a solitary archival assistant, both chosen by Elias Bouchard himself. His criteria for the position was known to him and presumably only him.There were certain choices made to best serve the Eye. A dead woman's recommendation was followed. A spider's gift was deferred. Other possibilities were still pursued.
Relationships: Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood & Elias Bouchard, Martin Blackwood & Sasha James, Martin Blackwood & Sasha James & Tim Stoker, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, The Beholding & The Web (The Magnus Archives)
Kudos: 27





	1. prologue: the past is gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning schedule review had turned into a kind of blend between and indoctrination and interrogation. They were seeking information after all. The Archivist was sitting at her desk. Her assistant came in with the daily offering of a cup of tea.

Gertrude was gone and no one knew why.There was a new head archivist and a solitary archival assistant, both chosen by Elias Bouchard himself. His criteria for the position was known to him and presumably only him.

There were certain choices made to best serve the Eye. A dead woman's recommendation was followed. A spider's gift was deferred. Other possibilities were still pursued.

The morning schedule review had turned into a kind of blend between and indoctrination and interrogation.They were seeking information after all.The Archivist was sitting at her desk.Her assistant came in with the daily offering of a cup of tea.

"Who do we serve?" the Archivist asked.

"The Ceaseless Watcher?" the archival assistant answered. It wasn't supposed to be a question.The tapes that the former Archivist has left behind made it clear what the Magnus Institute was really serving.Martin just didn't want it to be true.

"Why are you here, Martin?" the Archivist asked. She wasn't unkind or accusatory, just legitimately confused. "What qualifies you for your position over literally anyone else?"

"Elias chose me for the job," Martin said.He knew that was just a question that begged for more answers.Neither of them knew what those were yet."

"Why you?" the Archivist asked.

"I don't know.I'm sorry, Sasha. Ms. James?"

The Archivist, the Eyes and Ears of the Beholding, sighed. "Sasha's fine, Martin."

"Nothing new today?" he said. 

"My working theory is that Elias wants you to be an incarnation of the Ceaseless Watcher."

"Jonah," he corrected automatically.

She shook her head. "We're not supposed to show how much we know." She picked up her cooling cup of tea. "The real question is why did he listen to Gertrude and choose me?"

Martin gave her the sad smile that seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face. "We could always ask him. Maybe he just trusted Gertrude's judgment up to a point."

"And he followed her advice for some reason? I guess so."

"Paranoia won't help," Martin said.He wasn't scolding the Eyes and Ears of the Magnus Archives.He was just making sure that Sasha had a little voice of reason,

"It just might," Sasha said.She disagreed with most optimistic ideas that Martin tried to sell her. "Right.Well, that seems about it for today's review.What's next on the agenda?"

Martin consulted his mental notes. "Research wants our help with the Halloween rush."

Sasha nodded. "Right.I'll stay behind. Much to do." She sipped her tea, demonstrating just one of the many head archivist tasks she had for the day.

"Of course," Martin said, his warm voice hiding all the coldness he felt.

"Tell Tim I said hello," Sasha said in the same voice.

Martin's inner coldness melted a little. "Of course."


	2. live and learn from fools and from sages

Anyone who was free was called in to help Research with the Halloween onslaught of false reports. The archivist herself was exempt for reasons no one really questioned.No one was going to make her doing anything she didn't want to do, but she could spare her assistant.

It was a nice change of pace for people like Martin, a chance to see the inner workings of the Institute, the machinations of the Ceaseless Watcher.For Martin personally, the experience was terrifying, he had no idea what he was doing or how to cover it. Everyone was piled in with stacks of statements to follow up. He vaguely knew just about everyone, but functionally knew no one except maybe Tim.

Tim was off talking to someone else, having apparently decided it was time for a break.Martin was sorting statements with a man he'd not met before. He didn't even think he'd seen him.He could be wrong, of course. The man looked more the role of a librarian, but Martin was all but certain that he actually worked in research.He seemed comfortable enough with it. 

He might know something about the Ceaseless Watcher.He hadn't worked at the Institute for very long, but Elias seemed to have chosen him the way he chose Martin: utterly at random.

Martin wanted to talk to him.He seemed like a good listener.There was something perceptive to him, shown in the way he methodically approached the work, the casual glances he shot Martin. Martin tried not to blush when they made eye contact for the umpteenth time without talking. Martin was single, overwhelmed by the idea of work, and within arm's reach of an attractive man in his approximate age range.It was ridiculous.

Martin held one file that he'd already looked at. “Are we tracking these by which story they’re copying?”

"What?" the man said. He'd heard exactly what Martin had said, he just didn't seem to appreciate it.

"So many of these just seem to be from one movie or another. We could track them that way."

“Wouldn’t work," the man said. The perceptive qualities seemed to be gone.

“Sorry?" Martin said.

The man took the file from his hands, fingers not even close to brushing against Martin's own. "So this one has a Vampire floating outside a second story window.Are they copying Salem’s Lot or something that was derivative of it? That could depend on the age of the time waster, their particular taste in melodrama... Tracking down the references would be more effort than it's worth.”

"It was just an idea." Martin said. A friendship seemed to be out of the question.

"Well, it was a bad one," the man said, confirming acquaintanceship was also off the menu. He deliberately met Martin's eyes. "We already waste enough resources. I'm sure you have real work you should be doing on the archivist's behalf.” Acid dripped from those last words.

Martin wasn't quite able to form a response of his own. He could feel himself blushing.He straightened the pages he still had before him.

Tim appeared at his elbow. "Martin, how are you settling in?" He was focused on the man Martin had been failing to connect with.

“Feeling a bit redundant," Martin squeaked out."I should think you have enough manpower. Hate to be wasted," Martin said.

"Are you kidding?" Tim smirked. "Do you see what we're up against?" Tim slapped the man on the back. He focused back on Martin. "Be honest, has Jon been playing nice with you?"

Jon was the sneering, scoffing man's name. "Oh, we're fine."

Martin tried not to measure the distance between them, the stance each took.He tried not to calculate and interpret the unease. He tried not to stare.

"Jon tell you how much we appreciate the help?"

"I tried to tell him," the man said."Our friend from the archives had a novel idea for redoing our classifications since we apparently don't have enough to do."

"What's wrong with the Archives?" Tim said.

"Everything," Martin said."It's absolute chaos down there and I've been trying to find ways to fix it.It was just...still on my mind."

Jon huffed, just a little. 

"How's Sasha liking it?" Tim said.

Tim didn't need to know the truth, Martin decided.If Sasha disagreed, she could tell him herself. "Apparently absolute chaos suits her.She's worried about what happened to Gertrude, but she's definitely taking to the job.Tim, she wanted me to be sure to say hi."

"She should have come down herself then," Tim said. He was grinning, so it was a joke. His eyes weren't flashing like they normally did, so it wasn't.

"I'm sure she will when she gets a chance," Martin said, hoping it was true. "I like being her archival assistant. She's a good boss."

"A good boss sends you into this mess?" Jon said.

"Out of the frying pan into the fire," Martin said with a shrug.

"No messages for anyone else?" Tim said, now smirking at Jon. "Don't be jealous, Jon. I'm sure it's just that she didn't think you'd deign to talk to Martin."


	3. you know it's true

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin knocked at Sasha's door, waiting for her to call him in. The fact that she was "come in, Martin," wasn't as alarming as it should have been. The previous week, Elias had said how pleased he was with both of their progress. Neither had been happy to hear that.

Discrediting obvious fakes in research went quickly.Martin gathered information as they went, feeding the Ceaseless Watcher.If he was caught in its web, he could at least be useful. He instinctively sought outthe little weaknesses that people might try to hide.Jon hated anything to do with spiders. Tim laughed too much at the idea of spooky clowns. Martin knew just how everyone took their tea. 

"You're too good to be true, mate," Tim said.

Martin's warm smile was frozen to his face.Jon was staring at him. "Have to do something to be useful," he said.

"Hard to trust a man who's so attentive," Jon said.

"You're questioning his motives because he made you a cuppa," Tim said incredulously.

"Of course not," Jon said, not even bothering to make his lie sound honest. 

Martin's blush was burning his face. He excused himself,mumbling words that made no sense. He just resumed the work he was temporarily assigned.He'd go back to the archives soon enough, give what little he could to Sasha, and never go back to the research department again. 

Jon approached. "Sorry," he said.

"What?" Martin said.

Jon's mouth opened and closed, he stammered what could have been words with more time and effort and polish. "I'm... Tim explained to me how I'm being as much of an insufferable ass as usual."

Martin choked back a laugh.

"Drinks tonight," Tim said."Tell your boss."

"Elias?"

Jon choked on the tea Martin had brought him. "Good lord, I hope not."

Martin smiled and they seemed to have no choice but to reflect a fraction of his smile back."I should go check in with the archivist anyway. I'll be back."

* * *

Martin knocked at Sasha's door, waiting for her to call him in.The fact that she was "come in, Martin," wasn't as alarming as it should have been.The previous week, Elias had said how pleased he was with both of their progress.Neither had been happy to hear that. 

"I've been sent to see you," Martin said

"I have a new theory, but you might not like it," Sasha said.

Martin nodded and waited. 

"You're a honeypot trap," Sasha said.

"I...what?" Martin said.The words were supposed to mean something but he couldn't think of what.

"Elias is wanting to use you to trap someone. They'll form an emotional connection with you and unable to leave.You're bait.You're a pit covered in leaves."

Martin considered carefully. "I'm supposed to seduce someone?"

"Or just exist near them."

"But, seductively. Your theory is that someone who works here is going to be emotionally invested enough in me to want to serve the Ceaseless Watcher further."

"Yes." Sasha said.

"Have you eaten today?" Martin said.

"We just need to see who it is."

"You?"Martin said.

"Sorry." Sasha said.

"Who needs a Martin-shaped trap?" Martin said.

"Who have you talked to? I mean, really talked to."

"Everyone?" Martin said.

"Who are you drawn to?"

"Really?" Martin said.

"The Ceaseless Watcher works with the Spider to trap us in this place." 

"You're getting very good at your high priestess voice." Martin said.

Sasha grinned. "Well, that's the most terrifying thing I've heard all day."

Martin gave a small bow."We're apparently going for drinks tonight."

"We?"

"Tim and Jon and me and you." Martin said. "Maybe others? Tim was only definite on that grouping.I think I'm just in the mix to get you to come."

"I don't know if Elias would approve of my fraternizing with my underling."

"Tightens the web." Martin said. "He'd have to like that."

Sasha laughed, relaxing just a little. Martin was getting better and better at putting her at ease.That set off alarm bells in her head, but she needed to keep choosing to trust him. 

"Jon," Martin said sharply. 

"What?" Sasha said. "What's wrong with Jon?"

"I really like Jon, and I just met him. Web?" Martin said.

"Web or aesthetic. You could just..."

"Be attracted to the snarky man?"Martin said."He might be my type," he allowed. 

"Drinks will be good for both of us.Not everything needs to be spooky.I might even snap out of high priestess mode for a bit."


	4. everybody's got the dues in life to pay

There were too many spiders around Jon. Martin removed them from his environment. Jon was far more afraid of them than they were of him.Jon was gradually get less afraid of Martin than Martin was of him, which was a relief. Jon didn't seem to take to him in any perceptible way. 

Eventually, the research department adjourned for drinks, everyone who'd been pulled into their mess.Tragically, Tim was not able to pay for everyone's drinks, but he was easily forgiven.

Tim stayed as close to Sasha's side as possible.She smiled sadly at him, he smiled with understanding a faint thread of hope.Martin tried not to look at either of them. The embers of whatever relationship they had were gradually fading.

Martin also tried not to look at Jon because he knew he was staring too much. From what he could tell, from what little he could put together, Jon was marked by the Web.Either something had happened to him or it was about to.Martin tried to communicate this concern to Sasha with subtle micro-expressions, but that was something beyond him.

Jon was scowling at Martin, either because of the spiders or because of Martin himself.

"You boys getting along?" Tim said.He briefly put his arm around Jon's shoulders as he grinned at Martin.

Jon politely extricated himself from Tim's feigned embrace. "Halloween is bad enough already," he said. "You've made it continue."

"Didn't like Dave's spiderwebs?" Tim said.

"Where does one even get a shirt like...that?"

"The internet." Tim said. 

Jon scoffed. He didn't look Martin's way, but Tim did.

"Well, it's not Martin's fault." Tim said, excusing himself again.

"Right, I'm sure you're all sick of the same hoaxes." Martin said.

"It does spiral a bit," Jon said."They're all filtered out by the time they get to the archive."

"In theory, I guess. In practice..." Martin shrugged. "Sasha's got me verifying what's real and what's not."

"Sounds like dull work," Jon said.

Martin shrugged. "Dull isn't so bad." He blushed. "I like being useful," he said quietly.

Jon seemed to be drifting closer. "That's a good instinct."

"The archive is so far removed from the reality of these things.It's not like what you have to deal with, I'm sure. Or artifact storage."

"Have you ever been there?" Jon said.

"The Archivist used to work in there," Martin said softly.It was getting easier to call Sasha the Archivist instead of her given name.

Jon frowned. "And she's warned you never to go there?"

"No, but from what she's told me and what I've seen in our archives... I don't need convincing."

Martin shook his head.

"It's a ghastly place," Jon said. "It should be mandatory for prospective employees to see what they're getting into."

Martin laughed too loudly.It was too unhinged to be solely flirtatious. "I think you're right," he said.

"How would you know?" Jon said. "You would probably like it. You could get rid of all the spiders. There always are too many there."

"Spiders aren't bad," Martin said for the umpteenth time that day. "It isn't necessarily spooky just because it's taking place at the Institute."

Jon genuinely smiled. "If you're interested in it, I could show you the artifact storage."

"Really?"

"During work hours, of course."

"Of course," Martin said. He smiled, running the sudden idea through his mind of how he could trap and beguile someone.


	5. I know nobody knows

Sasha was throwing herself into the statements, digitizing them as much as she could.She and Martin were developing a database of everything that couldn't be digitized.She had bad dreams, difficulty sleeping, difficulty processing everything that she wanted to learn.The two of them were trying to condense decades ofwork into as little time as possible.It worked up until it didn't. 

Martin brought her morning tea. "Are you alright?" He set the tea down on her desk, picking up the tape recorder. "Have you recorded another one?"

She nodded.

"That's six this week," he said, tightening his grip on the recorder. 

"I'm going to drink this and go home," she said."We'll try everything again tomorrow."

"I can use the tape recorder, see if I can take care of some of the analog," Martin said.

"Careful with the statements," Sasha said. "You don't want to end up like me."

"Whatever's after me already had me in its sights," Martin said. "Get some rest."

Sasha nodded, eyes closed."I will."

She'd been gone about an hour when Elias stopped by.He'd been mostly keeping his distance. They liked it that way.Things were easier that way.Martin smiled st Elias, because that's what he had to do.

"Where's Ms. James?" Elias asked.

"She wasn't feeling well so she went home. She pushed herself too far after we spoke with Research about their possibly helping us close out some of these statements.I think she wanted it to be clear that she wasn't trying to do any less than her fair share."

"Oh, I doubt she thought that at all.She's always been very diligent."

Martin shrugged. "Just my speculation, I guess."

"Were you recording a statement?"

"That's not a problem, is it?I am an archival assistant." He was getting defensive, justifying doing the one task he hated the most.He hadn't recorded one yet that day, despite what he'd told Sasha. He was trying to gather up the strength.It was too draining, somehow n

"Oh, absolutely not a problem," Elias said. He was grinning.He has a perfectly tied tie and he was grinning at Martin."I have very high hopes for you, Martin."

"Thank you, Mr. Bouchard," Martin said, desperately trying to be anywhere else.

"I am very pleased with your progress so far. You've made marked improvements."

Martin nodded and waited for Elias to get bored and leave.It didn't take long, but it still took some time. He sat at his desk and tried very hard not to do anything at all, just to let his mind wander. He needed to clear it out completely, so he wouldn't dwell on what Elias had said and what he had just insinuated.  


He wandered over to the research department, just to check in on Tim (and Jon) and see how things were going. If anyone was free for lunch. Tim was out, Jon wasn't. They got sandwiches and discussed the best types of condiments. They'd been spending more time together, random sections of their workdays.


	6. where it comes and where it goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin looked for Jon before lunch. The words tumbled out in a rush. "Jon, I hate to bother you and I'll understand if you're too busy to take a look at this..."

Martin looked for Jon before lunch. The words tumbled out in a rush. "Jon, I hate to bother you and I'll understand if you're too busy to take a look at this..."

Jon's face was completely expressionless. "You use almost the exact phrasing each time you ask me for a favor,” he said.

Martin blushed. "Developing a bad habit, I suppose."

“It’s… it’s fine. I'd be happy to help you however I can,” Jon said. “You never ask for much, anyway.”

“Well, first, have you had lunch?” Martin said, ready to abandon subterfuge.

They walked out together, not even talking. Martin was still blushing, looking away from Jon as he tried to separate emotions from reason. Jon had been marked by something before the Ceaseless Watcher had drawn him into its web. 

Elias blocked their way. He was smiling. Martin didn't care for this smile. It was the smile Elias gave him when he'd recorded too many statements. Martin associated it with low-level headaches and a sinking in his stomach. Elias was a physical incarnation of the Ceaseless Watcher if there had ever been one. "I thought I'd find you here, Martin."

Martin's blushing awkwardness resolved into a more muted if mild annoyance. "Sorry, Elias," he said easily. "I was just asking Jon if they had anything on hand for a statement. Is there something you need?"

“A young man associated with one of our patrons will be in this afternoon. I’d prefer if you talked to him instead of Sasha.” Elias glanced at Jon before clearing his throat. “Nothing untoward, I just think you’d put him more at ease given the particulars of his...encounter, shall we say?”

Martin nodded too much, too vigorously. “I'll make sure we have a welcoming environment ready when I get back from lunch."

“Yes, well.” Elias focused on Jon. "You've been very helpful to Sasha and Martin. I do hope they aren't asking too much."

"Not at all," Jon said.

"We could always evaluate what roles we need in our archive,” Elias said, his cool and calm words burning at Martin. 

“The archive doesn’t need a full-time researcher," Martin said quickly. “We can all work together.”

"That's what Gertrude said about archival assistants and look how useful you've been."

The color drained completely from Martin's face. He started to stammer.

"Oh, don't let me stop you." Elias moved. “Mustn’t skip lunch.”

Martin and Jon proceeded to the canteen. Martin was deflated, muscle memory propelling him along. They sat and Martin came back to himself. "You alright?" Jon said dryly.

"I just hate it when he reminds me this position was basically invented for Sasha. He underestimates her. Or me. Or us both." Martin took an angry bite of his sandwich. 

"Elias isn't going to give away your job," Jon said.

"He might!” Martin said, looking around. He tried to keep his voice down. “It’s not imposter syndrome if you are an imposter.” 

“You’re hardly an imposter,” Jon said, not having the slightest idea what he was talking about. 

“Elias likes you more than he likes me."

"I highly doubt that," Jon said.

Martin considered. "Well, I am more likeable."

"Oddly enough, not when you say things like that," Jon said.

"You like me, don't you?"

Jon was trying not to smile. "I think everyone likes you. Don't worry." He hesitated a moment before patting the back of Martin’s hand. “I like you.” He withdrew his hand immediately as Martin started to blush. Martin sat up straighter even as the blush faded away.


	7. isn't that the way

Months went by.Sasha was getting more elliptical in her speech, never asking Martin direct questions. He was starting to copy her.Both the Archivist and her archival assistant had nightmares about the job, too specific and repetitive to be wholly natural. They had headaches sometimes, possible due to legitimate eye strain rather than anything potentially spooky. There were no nosebleeds or other spooky physical manifestations of the toll the Ceaseless Watcher took from them. 

Clear patterns were emerging from Gertrude's work, concrete things to investigate.Sasha went off in search of the real, Martin hung back and held down the fort.Martin couldn't lose this job, he couldn't afford it.On the other hand, he couldn't lose this job because it couldn't be taken from him that easily.

When Sasha was out, he'd spend time in Research, simply hovering. He tried not to lean on any one researcher too heavily, but it was their job. He'd ask a question and they'd hand a file over. Jon and Tim would always go further, either out of respect. 

"Do you like your job?" Tim asked. "You seem to be avoiding it."

"Yeah, it's just draining sometimes.Facing people as they face their fears, these horrible things they just know they saw. Some of them are fake to be sure, but.... it's rough. Elias says Sasha and I are getting terrific reviews, which is a horrifying metric to be worried about. " Martin stopped, considered his audience. "You know, I've had three people ask me if I was seeing anyone after telling me about the worst thing that's happened to them."

Tim cocked his head to the side. "And are you seeing anyone?"

"N...what?" Martin stammered.They'd taken a sharp conversational turn."Not...I mean, I've not... wh...I don't know why you're even asking."

Tim grinned. "Jon will be so disappointed that you're not dating after all."

"What?" Martin said.He seemed to be incapable of not blushing in Research. It wasn't the best look for him.

"Only joking," Tim said through his grin. "I never know what he's thinking. Unlike you, he's not an open book."

"Right," Martin said, heart rate slowing down again.

Tim dropped his voice, leaned in closer. "So are you two really not officially dating yet? Is this still the awkward flirtation before you have the talk?"

"Awkward flirtation I'm afraid," Jon said, voice emanating from behind Martin. Soft footsteps getting closer. "Hello, Martin."

"Jon!" Martin said, voice closer to a squeak than he liked.

"I'll leave you to it," Tim said, taking his Cheshire Cat grin away with him.

Martin stared at Jon, hoping that he was at least cute in his embarrassment.

"You alright?" Jon said, seeming a bit thrown off himself. "New statement giving you a hard time?"

"No, nothing like that. I just... I appreciate your help with all of these. Do you want to get dinner? As...as a thank you."

Jon paused for far too long. "I think we need to talk," he finally said.

"You can't break up with me, we're not actually dating," Martin said, aiming for a joke.

"Tim seemed fairly convinced. From how he makes it sound, we've been retroactively dating for weeks."

"I don't think it works that way," Martin said. 

"My understanding is that it does if you want it to."

"Do you want it to?" Martin said.

Jon looked away and Martin's heart sank. The twitch of Jon's head wasn't necessarily a nod of assent. "You wouldn't have been lying when you told statement givers you were seeing someone. Retroactive honesty."

"You were eavesdropping," Martin said, somewhere between horrified and flattered. Jon would fit right in within the Archives.

"I wasn't interrupting," Jon said, looking up at Martin again. "Dinner sounds..."He cleared his throat. "Dinner sounds fine."

"Fine."

"Lovely," Jon offered instead. "I like the idea of us actually talking about the boundaries of our relationship and doing so outside the institute. I obviously like the idea of spending time with you, I...what's wrong?"

"Our relationship?" Martin said, still squeaking.

"This is not going as I thought." Jon closed his eyes. "Alright, I am going to go back to work and I'll... I'll come over to the Archives when I can get away."


	8. all the things come back to you

"I am being harassed by spiders," the tired-looking man said. It wasn't supposed to be a statement. Jon has just come over to Martin's work area to take him out to lunch.

Martin hesitated. The first impulse was to brutally destroy anything that was harassing Jon. The second impulse was to protect spiders. He needed more information to know what to do.

"Tell me about them," he said. He was functionally the backup Archivist. He couldn't do all the things that Sasha (and Elias? Maybe?) could do. He could get a straight answer out of people, whether they liked it or not. He hated to force information out of the researcher with the deep soulful eyes, otherwise classified as his own boyfriend. But he needed to know, without any embellishment, what kind of spiders were indeed bothering the archival assistant's boyfriend, a fellow employee of the Institute. 

"There's spiders here and at my flat. They follow me. Rather, they anticipate me. They're already there, the web too established. They're watching me. They're trying to scare me."

"How do you know that?" Martin said. He was trying to choose his words with care. He didn't want to be too dismissive, but didn't want to scare Jon either.

"I..." Jon stammered. He was fighting the Archives. His pain wasn't its food. 

Martin couldn't cut him free. Jon had walked into this, had told Martin. They both belonged to the Ceaseless Watcher. Martin waited for Jon to continue. He knew that Jon would. 

Martin hated himself, somewhere in the back of his mind. He hated that he was okay with this now. He was watching his own boyfriend be torn apart, the pieces being fought over. Jon had been marked by the Web long before Elias had chosen him. From the sounds of it, the Web was trying to claim him back. 

They didn't know what the Web's ritual was going to be, or what they needed to know about it. Sasha had other things on her mind, bigger ones. Martin was doing his best in a support role.

"I had a book when I was young," Jon said flatly. "It was about spiders."

"Alright, Jon," Martin said. He took Jon's hand. "I'll take a look at the spiders."

"You could come over tonight," Jon said. "For dinner."

"Sure," Martin agreed. He smiled. "I'd like that anyway."

"And you'll sweep away all the cobwebs," Jon said. He was hiding his shyness and fear behind a smug surety. Martin wanted to kiss or punch him. He opted for neither on the moment, with potential kisses in the future.

"I'll see you after work, then," Martin said. "I need to work through lunch."

Jon nodded and left. He was actively displeased. 

Martin updated the files on them both. There was a very strong likelihood Web was trying to get to the Ceaseless Watcher directly through Jon and Martin. Sasha needed to know. There was nothing to tell Elias yet. Martin never knew what to tell Elias.


	9. it went by like dusk to dawn

"What do we know about the Web ritual?" Sasha quizzed Martin at their morning review. She was seated near Martin's desk, he was perched on it.

He took a sip of tea as he considered. "It's something to do with the Ceaseless Watcher. And Jon."

"You really think so?"

"I don't think he knows," Martin clarified. "He wouldn't..." he trailed off, not sure how to end that sentence. "I don't know how much agency any of us actually have."

"What do you propose we do about it?" Sasha said, standing over Martin.

"We could... bring Jon in as a second archival assistant. Have him do everything that we've been doing. Align him with the Ceaseless Watcher so the Web can't get at him."

"Do you think Elias will agree?" Sasha said.

"I've had Jon do a lot of research for us these last few months. He's more qualified for this bullshit we're having to deal with than I was when I started. I know, I know, that's no great accomplishment. Still. It should be enough for Elias."

Sasha smirked. "Keep your friends close?"

"And your potentially brainwashed enemies closer?" Martin offered.

* * *

Martin knocked on the office door. Elias scarcely looked up. "Glad to see you, Martin, I've wanted to check on you."

"You haven't even looked at me," Martin said.

Elias pointedly looked up.

"I like having you here. You appear to be good company. Good to have our own little spider spin his web here."

"You like spiders a lot," Martin said, looking at the excessive cobwebs in the corners.

"Unlike poor Jon. How is he?" Elias said.

"Good, good," Martin said. "I'm trying not to monopolize too much of his time. We had an idea... Sasha had an idea."

"Steal another assistant?" Elias said with a laugh. "Alright, fair enough."

"Really? It's as simple as that?"

"Always can do with another backup," Elias said. He resumed the paperwork n his desk. "Don't let me detain you."

Martin walked out in a daze. 

**Author's Note:**

> We'll try this again, restart with our Web-given backup.


End file.
